SUBU NAIR
Gives full value for your money’s worth
“Give the customer an exquisite experience, that matches with his philosophy; give him that ethereal experience; rest assured that he will be your greatest ambassador!” remarked Sri. Subu Nair, Proprietor of Tile Source Kochi. The business of selling ceramic tiles is fast changing. It is no more a case where one goes to a shop and buys them. Rather, the shop needs to be modeled to accommodate different experiences which customers can feel. Hence, the essence of success in entrepreneurship is clinical planning, wise financial investment and adopting a revolutionary methodology to provide customers with an experience of breathtaking beauty and enduring joy!”
Born in 1971, in a middle-class family, Subu did his schooling at the Kerala School, New Delhi. Right from his school days, he demonstrated a keen sense of being artistically different and this has remained with him throughout his life. Graduating from the Delhi University in Commerce, Subu was constrained to take up a job early in life following his fathers’ premature retirement from service. He had to support his family, and this led him to join Eureka Forbes in their sales division. Being a direct customer selling model, his customer visits were more to various homes, in the morning, fixing appointments and lugging the machine to those homes for demos, in the evenings. This continued for a while, and he kept utilizing the free time during the day to learn marketing skills from a local institute.
Soon, he moved from door to door selling to marketing office automation products and later entered the hospitality industry by joining the accounts department of ITC Maurya, New Delhi. Following a ten-year stint at the hotel where he played various roles of that as a Cashier, a Front Desk Assistant, and a Back Office Accountant; his desire to be creative urged him to look for new pastures to exhibit his talent. The opportunity came in the form of managing a ceramic factory near Delhi run by an industrialist. The job entailed many aspects that were new to Subu like procurement, supply chain, operations and more importantly managing people, but he did astonishingly well to master the above and in a couple of years, was able to get the organization grow significantly, both in terms of revenue and profitability.
“The challenge today is to adapt a typical
brick and mortar product like decoration
tiles, to use digital marketing for sale
The continuous desire to rebuild, rewire and recreate himself urged him to take up new challenges. This was the beginning of ‘Tile Source’, a total solutions provider in the field of interior designing of homes by creating an atmosphere which adds to the look and feel of the living space! This was marketing with a difference. While competitors acted more as stockist and retailers, Subu appealed more to the artistic sense and hence was able to attract not just homeowners, but builders, architects and other construction specialists to his facility
where he gave them a full value for their money’s worth. His solutions include not just kitchen and bathroom tiles, but a bundle of accessories that go along with them which effectively turns ‘Tile Source’ into a ‘One Stop Shop’ for all requirements. His product range spread from home decoration to embellishment of commercial buildings and even ornamentation of places of worship. The bespoke ornamentation of the Kochi Church is one project that he is extremely proud of and that opened a new vista of business opportunities for him. “The challenge today is to adapt a typical brick and mortar product like decoration tiles, to use digital marketing for sale” says Subu Nair. “Technology has ushered in many new channels like online retailing and social media marketing which are the growth engines of the future. Further, the pandemic has essentially forced consumers to try e-commerce and to increasingly rely on product ratings and reviews to give them the confidence for buying products. We are studying this and are hopeful to come out with an innovative marketing strategy”.
Blessed with two young girls, Subu leads a simple life and takes great pleasure in the small things that life offers. His main recreation is spending time with his wife and children. An ardent fan of music, Subu’s favourite is the
‘Panchavadyam’ and ‘Melam’ and he spends time enjoying the ascending or descending progression of their ‘Talas’.
“My advice to new entrepreneurial aspirants is to be patient, keep innovating and provide their customers with a new experience. Any business venture requires a lot of deep study, clinical planning, analysis and thorough budgeting.
Many a time, entrepreneurs make the mistake of heavy investments upfront and then when the business does not yield the expected returns, they get desperate and in a short span of time, the business is wound up. My advice
is to invest in installments, watch the progress and gradually scale up the operations. Ensure that enough working capital is available to sustain the business for at least one year. You are sure to succeed!” says Subu Nair.
Coming from a person who has traversed both the lows and the highs of business, these are gems that all fresh business entrepreneurs may do well to internalise!
Contact Mr. Subu Nair Mob : 9961009625
